Van ECK Associates Corp Sells 3,118 Shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE)

Van ECK Associates Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of Ameren Co. (NYSE:AEE) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 62,621 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,118 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Ameren were worth $4,530,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Command Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ameren in the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ameren by 124.5% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 624 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners raised its stake in shares of Ameren by 64.9% in the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. CNB Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Ameren by 46.7% in the 3rd quarter. CNB Bank now owns 641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in Ameren by 93.7% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 703 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.09% of the company’s stock.

Ameren Trading Down 1.5 %

AEE opened at $74.09 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $72.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $73.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market cap of $19.75 billion, a PE ratio of 17.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.44. Ameren Co. has a twelve month low of $67.03 and a twelve month high of $90.72.

Ameren (NYSE:AEE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.19 billion. Ameren had a net margin of 15.84% and a return on equity of 10.20%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.00 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ameren Co. will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Ameren Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th were paid a $0.67 dividend. This is a boost from Ameren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.62%. Ameren’s payout ratio is presently 61.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on AEE shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Ameren from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Ameren from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Ameren in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “sell” rating and a $73.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Ameren from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Ameren from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total transaction of $513,989.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,422,883.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Ameren news, CEO Martin J. Lyons sold 7,270 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total value of $513,989.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 246,434 shares in the company, valued at $17,422,883.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Mark C. Lindgren sold 1,630 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.70, for a total value of $115,241.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,385,328.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Ameren

Ameren Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a public utility holding company in the United States. The company operates through four segments: Ameren Missouri, Ameren Illinois Electric Distribution, Ameren Illinois Natural Gas, and Ameren Transmission. It engages in the rate-regulated electric generation, transmission, and distribution activities; and rate-regulated natural gas distribution business.